Blog - BeePeeking

supermoon Lunar Eclipse

9/29/2015

We experienced the super(blood)moon lunar eclipse along with friends and family from West Seattle, Minnesota, and South America on Sunday evening! The convergence of lunar eclipse and full harvest perigree moon is a rare event, and somewhat (un)predictable due to LOTS of different things in motion in the universe. I was able to capture this image of the final stage of the eclipse from my backyard (handheld with my 70-300 zoom lens).

Mark your calendars for October 2033, the next time everything lines up:

More on the Plight of the Honeybee

7/10/2015

This little film is a powerful statement of what is wrong with our regulatory system.

Veteran Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald uncovered EPA memos that dealt with the long-term consequences of using clothianidin, a neonicitinoid, on the life cycle of the honeybee.

Tom writes, "Do We Have A PESTICIDE BLOWOUT? Clothianidin is agriculture‛s Deep Water Horizon. America‛s farmland is awash in questionable chemicals as surely as the shorelines of the Gulf Coast are awash in crude oil – and for many of the same reasons."

What can you do to protect honeybees and all native bees and pollinators?
Do not buy flowering plants that have been treated with neonics
Support local & organic beekeepers
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Free Posters courtesy of Nora Wildgen at BeeSwell

Soil Carbon Sequestration= Good Summer Read

6/17/2015

"Cows Save the Planet" was my first read of summer, and I have to say, if you are unfamiliar with the term "soil carbon sequestration" (as I was), this book was truly fascinating.

In a nutshell, Schwartz interviews an eclectic group of farmers, ranchers, researchers, scientists, activists, and environmentalists, and presents a compelling case that proper soil management can end escalating worldwide desertification, improve soil fertility, preserve biodiversity, reduce obesity, and halt climate change. From Australian soil carbon sequestration diva Christine Jones, who explains the secrets of how we can save our planet by rebuilding our soil; to Allan Savory, a Zimbabwean ecologist, farmer, environmentalist, who promotes systems thinking; to Gene Govin, a North Dakota farmer who practices Savoy's Holistic Planned Grazing; to the four Slovakians and one Czech who have written about the New Water Paradigm...I am really excited to get my hands dirty!

and, for those of you who want to know more right now...I have two movies for you. Enjoy~

Look Up! The Billion-Bug Highway

6/10/2015

The Invisible Highway on Vimeo

Any guesses on which insect has made it as high as 19,000 feet (Mt Logan in Washington)? or who regularly travels at 14,000 ft? or how many bugs are stacked over your head on a summer day?

*Arthropods are the most diverse life form on the planet.

*There are over 970,000 known species-out of an estimated 4 to 5 million.

*Of the 1.9 million recognized species, over ½ are insects!!!
The other ½ of lifeforms/species include non-insect arthropods, other invertebrates, plants, fungi & lichen (and finally) vertebrates.

*It is estimated that arthropods outnumber humans by as much as 250 million to 1.

Did you know? only 1% (about 10,000 species) of known insects are considered pests.

The Fantastic Flow™ Hive = easy honey Harvesting

2/23/2015

This brilliant father & son team have invented a device that allows you to harvest honey without taking apart the hive and disturbing the bees. Good for the bees and easy on the beekeepers.

On Sunday, Cedar and Stuart Anderson opened an Indigogo account site for crowd-funding and within 24 hours had raised over 2 million dollars=to become the most successful crowd-funding project ever!

BeePeeking is a proud sponsor of the Flow Hive and we are excited for the success of their venture.
Currently, we only harvest cut-comb honey, so this will be a nice addition to our already less invasive honey harvesting habits.

Please visit Flow Hive's Indiegogo campaign to get all the sweet details.
For your convenience and viewing pleasure, I have reposted one of Flow Hive's videos for you. Enjoy!

Hats off to those creative Aussies!
First the Sun Hive and now this:

Little Things Matter

2/9/2015

Did you know that the animals and people of the Arctic carry more mercury and PCBs in their bodies than any other living beings on earth? Investigative report Silent Snow by Marla Cone.

This video, by the Canadian Environmental Health Atlas, was recently posted by the Pesticide Action Network. Three types of environmental contaminants, that have been linked to falling IQs and that have been found in the bodies of the U.S. population, are discussed.

One of the three is a group of commonly used pesticides known as organophosphates (OP), the second group includes flame retardants PBDEs, and the last toxin is lead, a known nerve poison. These chemicals wreak havoc in human bodies–even in minute amounts, and the combined effects of these poisons impact developing brains.

More Bad News: not only are we poisoning ourselves and our children, but "tons of dangerous chemicals and pesticides from the United States, Europe, and Asia are carried to the Arctic by northbound winds and waves. As a result, Inuit women who eat seal and whale meat have far higher concentrations of PCBs and mercury in their breast milk than women who live in the most industrialized areas of the world."

and now for something completely different

9/12/2014

It's been a long week, and my recommendation for Friday night at the movies is the Piip Show.
You gotta love that Norwegian sense of humor...

Drink a beer, save a butterfly

8/8/2014

Next week I will be out in the field doing research on the Oregon silverspot butterfly, Speyeria zerene hippolyta. The Oregon silverspot butterfly is a federally threatened species which has been reduced to just four small salt-spray grassland habitats on the Oregon coast. We'll be monitoring the butterflies at two sites that have been the focus of restored habitat and larvae releases to augment the dwindling populations: Cascade Head, an area that has been the focus of habitat restoration efforts for The Nature Conservancy, and Rock Creek, with habitat restoration by the US Forest Service; additional oversight, plant propagation, and research in conjunction with the US Department of Fish & Wildlife, the USDA National Resources Conservation Service, and Lewis & Clark College.

Both the Woodland Park Zoo and the Oregon Zoo are engaged in the population augmentation of this endangered fritillary. We will be gathering data on the success of the released larvae and pupae, as well as celebrating the 2014 release of the Oregon Silverspot IPA at the Pelican Brewery.

Do you believe in magic? Michael Durham, an Oregon Zoo photographer, captured the OSB transformation in this time-lapse video:

murmuration

3/25/2014

What do you call a group of starlings?
Don't miss this sweet film.

Thank you Sophie & Liberty

Murmuration